Shallow Lies
by KNDfreak
Summary: In jail, Mz. Ruby finally notices the truth between having friends and having false friends. She wants more, but is there anybody there to give it to her? Mz. Ruby/OC. Yeah, I know, what the hell, right? Shruggs.
1. Empty Promises

Mz. Ruby sighed as she heard the bars slammed shut. This is her second time. Her second time to make things right and failed. The first time was to make friends, though, no one really liked her and there weren't any friends in the swamps she'd grew up in. When she found real live friends, they turned her away, saying she was too scary and creepy. That she was an idiot to believe in ghost and the living dead. Hey it wasn't her fault she grew up in a family that believe in contacting with the dead and became a voodoo master. Her parents forced their religion, if you can call it one, on her. She was never given a choice. So, she was stuck with being a voodoo priestess and having no friends. Not because of the small population, but because they never gave her a chance, never let her show what she could do as a friend. Her parents thought it was good idea to contact with the dead and so, she did. She found it odd that the dead could see her back, but yet, she was most grateful, because now, she has friends. Dead ones, but still it's all the same, isn't it? But then, she realize that her dead friends couldn't do half of the things she could. They could not walk out in daylight, they could not stay longer then she'd hoped for, they could not even talk, just listen. The more Mz. Ruby thought about it, the more sadden she becomes. They weren't real, I mean, if you can see them they were, but not in Mz. Ruby's eyes. They were there, but not there all at the same time. A friend would've stayed long and talk, right? They would've listen and comment on an idea, right? They could do all of that, but her dead friends could not. They listen, but they would nod at her questions rather to answer them and give her their opinion on the matter. She needed more, some real friends.

And all of that change when she met Clockwerk, the founder of the Fendish Five. When she had met him, he had promise her alot of things. Friends, money, but most of all, FRIENDS! Mz. Ruby didn't care about the other things she could get for making the deal with Clockwerk, to know that someone out there is going to be friends with her was enough. Clockwerk had promise her, only if she did one small favor in return. And that's where Sly Cooper comes in. At first, she was worried what will happen after that. Will she maintain her friends? Will Clockwerk keep his promise? But then, she realize that it might be a good idea. After all, Clockwerk promise her and he says he keeps his promises, right? So, she made the deal. The dumb book in which helped her for crimes and other stuff, for friends and many more rewards. For bonus, she could even let her dead friends to help out! How amazing is that?! New friends and old ones! So happy, so many, many friends......

But then, when she met the other three members, things got off to a rocky start. First, Raleigh, who was hooked on machinery, quickly ignored her and went off doing stuff that even Clockwerk didn't know. When she wanted to see whatever he was working on, he shoved her away, as if she was a dangerous toxic or something. Next was Muggshot. She didn't even bother. After all, Muggshot was a RUTHLESS thug, not one of those thugs that steals purses from old ladies or bang with guys on the streets. So, it was better for her and her life to stay wherever she was. Then came Panda King. Oh, the honorable Panda King. The one who never turns her down, the one who always helped her find her way...... He's also the one who didn't have a backbone in his body. Because he wasn't after the Coopers, no. He was after the village and only came because Clockwerk said that he would help with revenge he wanted so badly. He had told her, that he was friends with the Coopers, that they didn't cause harm. Though, he did envy the way they steal, so graceful and so smooth, that anything you can come up with was burn to ashes. They were kind people, he said. They don't steal from people who usually walks around in china. Never that. Just the ones that thinks they're top dogs, think they can get away with anything.

They haven't met the Coopers.

And now, Mz. Ruby was torn in two. One was to help Clockwerk or go against him. If the Coopers were anything Panda King said, then why would she help him if they were just kind, and maybe innocent people? But then, she remember the promise. Friends, wealth, and most of all, love. Love from the gang, respect from the people that thought of her as nothing but a monster who believed in magic.... So many problems, so little time. She wanted to believe in the Panda King, really, because the name 'Cooper' doesn't sound much of a threat, but then her deal and his promise swarm in her head. She didn't have time for this, she needed to act and act now.

So, she chose Clockwerk. She turned down the story Panda King's story, she wanted friends more then anything. And besides, Clockwerk had been the father she never had, excluding her parents, who had died at the time she joined the group. He always looked after her, until she grew up and was ready to take on the world. Until she became what she was today.....

Something told her, it was all a trick. While she was in jail, nobody came to save her. Everyone, except for Panda King and Clockwerk, was in jail. They never had a chance to come and save her, like a good team was suspose to do. What ever happen to the Panda King? No one knows for sure, and Clockwerk? If he had known that she was in trouble, he would've busted her out, right? After all, he adopted her, cared for her, made sure to stay on the path of good, right?

Wrong. She wasn't on the path of good, he never really adopted her, he never really cared for her. Just her powers. Mz. Ruby smiled in irony. It was just like the first time, but different. She was being used, no one really gave a fish stick what happened to her. Because, she never was normal. Clockwerk had treated her like his own, but without even knowing, was being cold to her. Clockwerk was never there, Panda King was never there. Nobody was never there. She had taken the life of Sly's father, nearly ruled the world with an iron fist, stayed by Clockwerk side, let her fingers do the dirty work just so she could have what she really wanted and for what? For it to be toss back into her face? Telling her, 'you'll never have friends so stop trying.'? What was the purpose?

Sighing, Mz. Ruby turned her head to the sighed. No more company, no more Cooper, no more Clockwerk. Just no more lies, no more false hope. She wants the truth now, she wants to know if there's anybody out there for her, to be her friend. To be by her side when she needed it. No more empty promises.


	2. A New Shoulder To Cry On

Three years in jail had done a lot to Mz. Ruby, as far as anyone is concern. Her hair was longer, stopped down to her mid back, she was more skinner, and well, she just changed. She wasn't evil anymore, but in some ways, she was just a confused, scared child. Now knowing the truth, Mz. Ruby had decided to put everything to rest. No more voodoo magic, no more stealing, and best of all, no more Clockwerk. When she was told that Clockwerk was defeated by Sly Cooper, she smiled. There was hope for her, she could start over with no strings attached. But even with it, she was just as scared and just as confused as she was when she was child. The first thing that came to her mind was to get rid of her book of spells, but for some odd reason, she just couldn't. So, she left it alone. Although, she was confronted by the police when she was told a new jail cell member was joining her.

She wanted to protest, to scream at them for doing that to her, but she held her tongue. She didn't want to cause trouble anymore, but she didn't want to be near anyone else. For the first time in her life, she was happy about being by herself, that way, she wasn't told any lies or was mistreated by anyone else. Mz. Ruby sighed as she laid on the bed, reading the book of spells that no one, not even the cops, have yet to find. She started to wonder what her new jail cell member was like. Was he tall? Was he cute? Was he a guy at all? Suddenly, she heard the doors to her cell open then shut. Putting her book away, she looked up and was amazing at what she saw.

He was a young crocodile, just like herself, but only younger. He looked about in his late 20s. His skin was pale green, while Mz. Ruby's skin was dark green, due to the fact that she was in jail, his hair was black as the midnight sky. When he lifted his head up, he open his eyes, revealing them to her that they were light blue. For some odd reason, Mz. Ruby's heart started to beat faster as her mouth became drier. He smiled.

"Hello." He said. Mz. Ruby gulped, feeling nervous all of the sudden_. What is wrong with me_? She thought.

"H-hello." She squeaked. He raise an eyebrow before shrugging it away.

"I'm Mino, what's your name?" Mz. Ruby came to a hault. Why was he doing this? Was he faking to be her friend? She frowned. She didn't like lies, but if he insists.....

"Mz. Ruby." He laughed while she narrowed her chocolate brown eyes.

"What's so funny?" He shook his head while smiling. Again, for some odd reason, she didn't find this as an insult. She didn't need to, given by his aura.

"Nothing, it's just that, you look too young to be called 'Mz.' Ruby. How about I just call you Ruby?" She nodded, not wanting to speak anymore. Her cheek turned a rosy pink when she realise he had just called her 'young'. In other people eyes, she looked old and ugly, that's why the 'Mz.' was added in front of her name, for an insult she guessed. Mino looked around and to break the long annoying silence, he started to speak.

"Why are you in here?" He asked. Mz. Ruby grunted, and folded her arms.

"I'll tell you if you tell me first." She said. Mino sighed.

"Stealing and murder." Mz. Ruby eyes went wide. When he saw this, he smirked and folded his arms, almost in a mocking way. She stopped a giggle that was about to brust through her lips.

"Or at least, they called it stealing. My girlfriend, Bani, she was cheating on me with another guy named Steven. Before this happen, though, I had given her a necklace to represent our one year relationship. To let her know, that I loved her." He frowned. "Imagine my surprise when I found out that she's been cheating on me and that she didn't wear the necklace when he's around." Mz. Ruby could imagine it now. Mino's face in anger, a bimbo named Bani face filled horror and fear while a guy named Steven was sucking it all up.

"What happened?"

"I killed that son of a asshole. The guy, I mean. I search everywhere for that necklace I have given her. To it back and wait for someone else, you know? She had called the police and told them that I was stealing something very important from her." He sighed. "Tried to explain, but my excuse went down the drain. I paid for that damn thing too." He looked at her, waiting for her to tell her story. She sighed.

"Apparently, I had broken some type of law against voodoo priestesses." She stopped when she saw his wide-eye expression. "But it wasn't my fault." She whisperd, turning away from him, so he couldn't see the tears. He lifted her chin up, to make her face him, but her eyes were closed.

"Ruby...."

"It wasn't my fault!" She screamed before sobbing on his shoulder. "M-my parents made me! I didn't say no! I didn't do anything! I only did it so I could make them feel happy and leave me alone! Children made fun of me, hated me, and feared me all those years! I-I didn't have a real friend. No one WANTED to be my friend! I-I-" She stopped sobbing and looked at him, eyes clear with tears. "I'm sorry." Mino whiped away the tears.

"It's okay. It's all over now, what's done is done, right? Time to change. Get a new start." He said, still whipping away the tears. Mz. Rubby sniffled and smiled at him.

"Yeah. A new start." There was a long pause. "Oh, and Mino?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for listening."


	3. Befriending A Fiendish Five Member

It was weird, in a good way. The first day that they'd met and already Mz. Ruby began to like him as he told her about his past, his future, and times where he would laugh. She wonder why he had taken a like to her, trusted her with his thoughts. But then again, Mz. Ruby trusted Mino with her thoughts so, maybe, the same rule applies? She didn't know.

"Hey, Ruby? Are you okay? You're not zoning out on me again, are you?" Mino asked, snapping his fingers in front of her. Mz. Ruby blinked and looked at him with sheepish grin.

"Sorry, I'm just thinking."

"About what?" She was surprise. Never in her life had someone asked her what's on her mind. Now she knows for sure that the rules applied to her. She smiled at him and shook her head.

"Nothing, just...stuff. That's happening in the last twenty minutes, I mean. It's all so fast." She whispered the last part and bowed her head in shame. She wasn't....comfortable talking to him about it, he'll probably laugh at her. To her shock, he didn't. Instead, he picked up her chin to make her look at him in his blue, caring eyes. This caused her to blush ever so lightly.

"I know you'd told me about what happen to you. In fact, I myself is just as surprise that I ended up opening to you-" There was sharp silence floating all around and Mz. Ruby didn't enjoy it one bit. "But we're roommates, friends, cell members or whatever the hell you want to call it. I'm not like the others, I actually care about someone. So much that it hurts." Mz. Ruby wanted to cry, but for happiness, not sadness. She nodded.

"Right. Friends." She said, smiling. Mino gave her a smile that made her heart flip and softly floated back down. She didn't know why she was feeling some other emotions towards him, but for right now, it'll have to wait. Mino was her first real friend, not Clockwerk, not Panda King, not the Fiendish Five itself. It was Mino, a young crocodile like herself. Never in a million years that she thought another person, another being, would get so close to her, just like she dream. Mino sighed and set the conversation off with one final smile.

"Good, now quit your worrying. I won't do what the others did. That's a promise." Then he slid into the upper part the bunk bed and laid there for almost two mintues and thirteen seconds. Mz. Ruby didn't know what to feel. _Joy,_She thought determindly. _I should feel joy. Because there IS someone out there for me, it just took me jail time to figure it out._Later that day, everyone went to lunch. Upon walking in, Mz. Ruby notice a few stares she was getting and whispers that were followed. She raise an eyebrow and shrugged it off. She then walked to a table that was just outside of the lunchroom. She then heard someone from a different table chatter.

"So, is that Mino guy hot or what?"

"He's cute, but not hot. I'm just mad that he's stuck with **her**." The two girls stopped before continuing.

"I know. Why is he jail mates with Mz. Ruby? Wasn't she a Fiendish Five?"

"Yeah, but do you think she told him that?"

"Probably not, after all, who would want to be friends with voodoo mystic freak?" Mz. Ruby didn't want to hear the rest of it. It's bad enough she didn't get along with everyone else in jail, but did they HAVE to bring Mino in it too? The worse part is, in her heart, she knew they was right. If she had told Mino that she was part of the Fiendish Five, he would never liked her. After everything he said about Clockwerk too?

Flashback

_"So, what happen during childhood?" Mz. Ruby had to ask. Something about it seem to bother her. Mino's face went dark and his body began to tremble, but sighed._

_"My father was killed by Clockwerk." Time had froze. Mz. Ruby looked at him, eyes wide. Seeing this, he sighed again._

_"You do know Clockwerk, right?" She nodded slowly. She wanted to know what happen between the two of them and if it was something bad, which it'll probably be, then she wouldn't tell him that she had worked for him. No, it's better to play safe then sorry._

_"Good. Then you'll know I'm getting revenge on him. You see, it started out when I was just a kid, playing with my friends. I wasn't aware of the danger I was putting my father into when I had left the house in spite of what he said. My mom had recently passed this time around, so there's nothing else I could do, but clear my head and played. When I reached home, I had found out that it had been ransacked and upon the mess, I saw my father laying dead. He kept saying, I won't do it. When I asked what he means, he said....I won't help in defeating the Coopers family. I didn't know who that was until later. When I asked him who did whatever the hell they did to him.....Clockwerk. Clockwerk wanted his help, he refused and in the end, he had to died." Angry tears rolled down the crocodile's face. "And I won't stop searching for him, to kill him off for what he did. And, anybody who stands in my way will share the same fate."_

Flashback

Mz. Ruby gulped when he said that. _This is just great._ She thought numbly. _First, I made a friend when I didn't want to. Then, my friend is too nice and kind. And to add to the drama, he wants to kill Clockwerk and anybody in his way_! Mz. Ruby sighed, closing her eyes. Clockwerk, Clockwerk, Clockwerk! Why does everything include that dumb metal bird?! Again, she sighed. And the worse part of it is, Mino had befriend a Fiendish Five member.


	4. Still Trapped?

So this is what guilt felt like huh? It's funny. Mz. Ruby always thought that guilt was a minor annoyance and would go away on its own, but, now that she is a victim, it's a more harder and down right dirty feeling. She had _lied _to him, about her past, about how she ended up in jail, everything! The worse part of it was that most knew about it and IF Mino had heard what they said, then their relationship would surely go down the drain. No, she had to keep her secret away from his ears. She just had to. Mino was the only thing keeping from going off the deep end and she did not want to go back, not while she's taking every chance she gets. And to start, she had to get rid of her book. Mino hasn't found it and there's no guarantee he's won't found out later. Mz. Ruby held her breath as she tightly gripped the book while looking down at the toilet. Yes, she's gonna flush it away, flush the last ity bity part of her life and her parent's tradition away. There was no need for it when she leaves jail anyway, and didn't she say she was going to start over? Mz. Ruby blinked back the tears. She didn't know why it was so hard, it wasn't like someone would notice_. Maybe....maybe because this was first book my parents gave me to studied. To help me channel spirits from the other side, to help me with my criminal records_.... It hurts like a brick every time she thought about it. The first book her parents gave her and she had used it for evil. It wasn't like they had planned it to be that way, but Clockwerk had......

Shaking her head, Mz. Ruby let her arms drop and the book fell into the toilet. Staring at it for a while, she flushed it and left the bathroom and went into the jail cell. There, lies Mino on his bed and was just staring at the ceiling or at least, the bottom of Mz. Ruby's bunk.

"Mino? Are you okay?" She asked. Mino didn't say anything, but looked at her.

"I dunno, I guess. I heard a rumor." The blood in her body turned cold as her eyes went wide. He couldn't possibly know yet! Not when she left that part of her behind! Oh god, her dreams were crashed before they started.

"I-it's not what you think!" Mino raise an eyebrow before sighing a relief.

"Oh, so the meat in the 'surprise meat' wasn't rotten." Wait, what? Mz. Ruby blinked before shrugging.

"I don't know about that, I had soup." Mino laughed.

"Me too. Eww, can you imagine what will happen to the others who ate it?" They both laughed. Phew! So he hadn't found out! Mz. Ruby stopped laughing and sigh as she sat on Mino's bed.

"I don't think I want to know." Mz. Ruby then shifted and sighed. "I don't want to think about anything right now." She mumbled and closed her eyes. As per usual, Clockwerk's ugly rear showed up in her mind, haunting her to no end. Mino rubbed her shoulders.

"Don't say that. Come on, look on the bright side. For another month and a half, we can get to know each other some more." Mz. Ruby smiled lazily as her eyes dripped slightly. Yeah, she could spend a lifetime with Mino.

_Mz. Ruby had waken up to the strangest of sounds. It sounded like.....metal wings beating harshly against each other. She didn't know what it was until...until **he **called her._

_"Mz. Ruby, there you are. Come back to me child, we have a lot of catching up to do." Suddenly, Mz. Ruby found herself being lifted from the once cozy bed and onto the cold hard ground. There, standing before her, shining with all his might, was Clockwerk. Mz. Ruby looked at him, chocolate meeting yellow eyes. _

_"W-what do you want from me? I'm not Sly, Clockwerk!" She yelled, fear sprinkled upon it. Clockwerk had chuckled (??) and his eyes went from cold hard to laughter and amusement._

_"My dear, once a member is always a member." He said, still laughing hauntingly. Suddenly a new figure appeared and Mz. Ruby knew who it was._

_"Mino!" Mino glared at her, hatred filling in his eyes._

_"I trusted you! I loved you and you betrayed me! How could you work for him, huh?! He killed my father!" Mz. Ruby could have sworn tears were burning in her eyes as she tried to get up and run to him, but couldn't. Mino was fading fast._

_"I loved you! I loved you!" Those words echoed as he went further and further away. Mz. Ruby struggled._

_"No, wait! Mino! I love you too!"_

Mz. Ruby woked up with a jump, sweating. She looked up from her bed to see that night had already taken daytime place. She sighed as rubbed her fingers through her blue hair and closed her eyes. Stupid Clockwerk, why was he here in the first place? He's dead, and she's about to get the life she never had. She was a slave to him and now she was finally free, so why does it feel like the bond she and Clockwerk shared was so much more? And why was he still haunting her? But most importantly, her feelings for Mino, have they......

Changed?


End file.
